Lee County's volunteer horse patrol answers the call in Estero

LIANE EDIXON

12:00 AM, Dec 30, 2006

Volunteer riders with the Lee County Mounted Patrol and their horses, from left: Natalie Galvin with Sierra, an American paint horse; Jody Mills with Murphy, a quarter horse; Jeanne Shadduck with Heart's Masquerade (nicknamed "Flash"), an Arabian; Debbie Russell with Martin, a Belgium draft horse; and Kayle Russell with Shooter, a quarter horse.

Special to the Banner

They can easily spot a lost car in a packed parking lot and they provide escorts to shoppers' vehicles after dark.

They provide strong police presence and crowd control at protests and compete in national competitions against full-time mounted patrol units.

All atop their horses, volunteer equestrians with the Lee County Sheriff's Office provide a variety of community policing services.

The Lee County Mounted Patrol includes about 18 active volunteers and their respective horses, led by Captain Rex Shevitski, a paid captain of the Sheriff's Office.

All volunteers are required to own their own horse and provide their horse's transportation. The riders also must pass a background check and if other requirements are met, training begins in Sheriff's Office personnel procedures.

They learn how to work the Sheriff's Office radio transmitter and how to deal with traffic and crowd control.

In addition, volunteers must train a few times a week on their horses with Capt. Shevitski.

Mills started volunteering with the Mounted Patrol to ride her Quarter horse, Murphy, more and meet new people. Now, she thinks of it a bit differently.

"We're there to help the people," Mills said. "We've found everything from purses to money, and jewelry, that we try to give back to their rightful owners. The ladies particularly love it—especially the escorts to their cars."

"And kids especially love it," added Natalie Galvin, who has been volunteering for the last two years with Sierra, an American Paint horse.

"It's a great group of people," said Debbie Russell of her fellow volunteers.

"We all love doing it," added Mills.

According to Mills, the group is a tight knit family of volunteers that provide extra eyes for the Sheriff's Office.

The volunteer group can be found most often during the holiday season at malls such as Miromar Outlets and Coconut Point in Estero. The unit also rides at events such as the Lee County Fair.

Last April, they worked the Hispanic march where close to 80,000 participants protested nationally proposed illegal immigration legislation.

"We were right on the front lines," Russell said. "Everything went really great."

"The horses were very instrumental in part of that crowd control," Shevitski said.

The Mounted Patrol complemented the many foot patrols also providing safety and crowd control at the march, Shevitski added.

Shevitski has been riding "for years and years," he said. Shevitski and his wife provide professional training to riders.

Russell, whose daughter, 22-year-old Kayle Russell, also volunteers with the unit, said she enjoys training with Shevitski.

"We get very, very awesome training," Russell said. "He has so much knowledge."

Riders must train for periodic evaluations that test both the rider and the horse in equitation (skills) and obstacles.

"I feel that I train our people very well, if not better than most of the full time units in the state. Even though we're not full time, our units compete nationally against full time (mounted patrols). They're a good bunch of people," Shevitski said.

Similar units from police department's in Lee County and Collier County train with the Lee County Mounted Patrol, Shevitski said.

"We're like the hub," he added.

According to Russell, she began volunteering to spend more time with horses; receive free training from the Sheriff's Office, and to do all that while helping the community.

"During the holidays, we patrol the malls. We help people — make them feel safe — walk them to cars. Some people get lost — lose their car. We have an advantage because we can see over the cars," Russell said.

Although the volunteer unit is usually seen most frequent during busy holiday shopping seasons, they can also be found at occasional football games.

"As far as crime prevention, it's an awesome tool," Shevitski said. "Whenever they're in a parking lot or crowded area, they can see someone going through a car or hiding," he added. "If people are in a struggle, they can see it from a long distance away."

The unit is also trained to assist in search and rescue missions because their horses can cover terrain easily.

The Sheriff's Office is always looking for volunteers for all of their units. To learn more about its volunteer units and its requirements, visit www.sheriffleefl.org, or call 477-1000.